


Challenge

by Steph_R94



Series: Try Me [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIII-2
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 18:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1315219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steph_R94/pseuds/Steph_R94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The second time he says it, it’s in challenge; and it fires her blood like never before. That something that had started back in his home was now growing and Lightning doesn’t know how to feel about that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:: The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy and characters belong to Square Enix.

Noel sat on the patio next to Serah. He could see her tense worried expression from the corner of his eye. Her hands were clasped in front of her chest as they often did. Her blue eyes were wide in fear for her fiancé, but they couldn’t help but dart between the two fighters.

               “You do realize they are sparring right? Not serious,” Noel pointed out with a small wave of his hand toward the two. Serah glanced over at him and bit into her lip. The ground shook as Snow’s body hit the hard ground. He rolled out of the way as Lightning’s foot came down just a few inches from where his head had been.

               “I know that!” Serah partly whined. “It’s just…you don’t know them! It can turn serious in like a second!” Noel glanced back at the sparring duo. Like her namesake, Lightning struck fast and strong. The large, slow Snow was having trouble keeping up. Whereas Snow relied on his strength, Lightning relied on her quickness. Snow punched out at her. With a quick, agile twist of her body, she trapped Snow’s wrist in her hand. A sharp jerk sent him over her shoulder and onto the hard ground again.

               “Alright…alright…I give up,” Snow groaned from his position on the ground. Lightning smirked and backed up off of him. Noel found himself endeared by the small quirking of her mouth. Snow sat up and rubbed the side of his head. “Don’t even know why I volunteered for that anyway…”

               “Oh come on now, Snow, I’m just getting warmed up!” Lightning taunted. Snow groaned.

               “No,” he muttered. “My pride has taken enough of a beating for one day.”             

“I’ll volunteer…” The words were slipped out of his mouth. Three sets of eyes turned to him. Snow smirked happily.

“Yeah! Let him! I wanna see pretty boy get his ass kicked for once!” Snow said as he let Serah pull him to his feet. Noel glared at him. Snow grinned. “I mean say it with fondness.” Noel snorted and shook his head. Serah glanced worried over at him.

“Are you sure you wanna…I mean do you know what you’re getting into?” Serah questioned him. He met Lightning’s green eyes over Serah’s shoulder. She returned his gaze unflinchingly. The smirk that had been on her face had turned into a small amused smile.

“I think I can handle it,” Noel returned. His eyes stayed on hers. Snow’s grin widened.

“Oh I can’t wait to see this!” He exclaimed, punching the air. He winced in that next second because it had pulled at the sore skin of his back.

“Snow!” Serah scolded halfheartedly. In truth, she too had wanted to see a fight between her sister and Noel for a very long time. During their journey to find Lightning, Serah had laid awake at night and wondered just what it would be like for the two of them. They were both fiercely competitive people. Now, she was finally getting the chance to see it.

“I won’t go easy on you just because you’re pretty,” Lightning teased him as he came to stand in front of her. Noel smirked and relaxed his arms out to his sides.

“Neither will I,” he returned. Lightning froze slightly at the compliment. Her green eyes widened slightly. From over Noel’s shoulder, she caught the slack jawed expression on Snow’s face and the pleasantly surprised one on Serah’s.

“You sure you don’t want to back out now?” Lightning offered one last time just to rile him.

“Try me,” he whispered. The words tasted familiar in mouth. It was almost as if he had said them to her before. Snow and Serah didn’t catch it, but Lightning did. A smile spread over her lips at the familiar two word demand. No other words were spoken. They lunged at one another. He caught her fist before it could make impact. She pulled her fist free and dodged his feet as he attempted to sweep hers out from underneath her. She spun around and threw her elbow back toward his face. Once more, he stopped it with a simple brush of his hand. She didn’t waste any time moving away from him as his foot rose in a perfect kick.

Snow and Serah sat on the patio watching the two of them go. Snow’s mouth was open in shock as his eyes darted around in the attempt to keep up with their hands and feet. Serah wasn’t as surprised as her fiancé. She knew what Noel was capable of; he had after all been her protector on the journey to bring Lightning home. She knew just how fast, how good he was. Still, it was amusing to watch Snow’s eyes widen in awe as Noel landed a kick on Lightning. She hissed and jerked away from him. The fire in her eyes burned all the brighter. He smirked at her; his entire expression was smug. His blue eyes were filled with satisfaction. Lightning itched to wipe them both away. Without any warning, Lightning darted forward and faked a kick at his left side. He stepped to the right and found his feet sweep out from underneath him by the beautiful woman. His breath left him in a quick whoosh as his back met the ground. He was on his feet before her leg could fully come down, but unlike Snow he hadn’t rolled. He caught her thigh in his right hand and trapped it against his hip before her foot could cause a lot of pain to his stomach. The skin on skin contact caused her to forget all other course of action for a moment. His hand was warm and calloused against her thigh. The cold feel of his ring and the rough feel of his leather wrap warred against her senses. His belts pressed against the skin of her leg.

“That was dirty,” he scolded her playfully. She couldn’t smirk like she usually would. She couldn’t even respond. His touch had paralyzed her. Her _shock_ had paralyzed her. Men rarely ever touched her. They were terrified of dying a long and brutal death, but here was Noel…holding her thigh against his hip like it was the most natural thing in the world. With a sharp push upward of the hand that lay underneath her thigh and a clever slip of the foot behind her only grounded one, Lightning lost her footing and found herself on the ground.

“ _That_ was dirty,” Lightning mocked him as she sat up. Irritation shined in her green eyes. Not only was she irritated that she had let him get the best of her, but she also annoyed at her body’s reaction to it. Noel simply shrugged in response. A smirk already tugging back onto his lips. He held his hand down to her to help her up. The previous rules established were that the spar didn’t end until Lightning hit the ground.  

“No,” Snow whispered to his fiancé, “that was kind of hot…” Serah found herself nodding before she could even stop it. Noel turned his head to the two on the steps of the patio and quirked an eyebrow just as Lightning placed her hand in his. Apparently, Snow had not whispered as low as he had thought. Instead of giving Snow’s comment any further attention, Noel wrapped his hand around Lightning’s smaller one and pulled her to her feet.

“That’s ten bucks, Snow,” Lightning said as she walked toward them. Snow blinked. While Snow’s attention was focused on the money he would be losing, Serah’s were focused on Noel. She could have just been imagining it, but it had looked as though their hands had lingered in one another’s for a minute longer than necessary.

“What for?!” He exclaimed. Noel moved his hand into his pocket. Serah’s eyes flicked up to his face to see him staring at her with a quirked eyebrow. He did look curious, but there was worry in his eyes as well. Noel had never forgotten her lies about the visions; and he didn’t fully believe that they could just stop when the seeress was no longer needed by her guardian.

               _“I’m okay…”_ she mouthed. _“Just zoned out for a little while.”_ He nodded. She felt slightly guilty when that look in his blue eyes came back. The one that said he was thinking of her: Yeul.

“Well,” Serah was pulled away from her guilt and Noel from his thoughts of Yeul as Lightning began to speak, “you bet five a few weeks ago that Noel couldn’t stand a chance against me; then just then you got a show,” Lightning said.

“How come Serah doesn’t have to pay up?” Snow grumbled. Serah glared at her future husband. Lightning rolled her eyes, but Noel—he was lost in thought.

 


End file.
